Current Legal News

Stay current with legal news in Tennessee. This page features the latest news for and about the Tennessee legal community, either produced by the Tennessee Bar Association or collected from news sources.

The Tennessee Bar Association, Lipscomb University's Institute for Law, Justice & Society and the First Amendment Center will hold a public forum on the issue of free speech and civility tomorrow evening from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Lipscomb's Ezell Center. A public viewing of the Presidential Debate will follow at 8 p.m. Refreshments will be served and free parking is available. Read media coverage of the event from News Channel 9 in Nashville and WATE News 6 in Knoxville.

The Memphis Bar Association (MBA) on Tuesday will present Entertaining Motions 2012, a parody of Memphis legal life, to benefit access to justice efforts. The event, which kicks off at 6 p.m., will also feature award presentations to area volunteers. Those being honored include Monroe David, Maureen Holland, Lisa Leach, J. Michael Fletcher, Allen Malone, Linda Harris, Chris Martin and James Warner. The law firm of Littler Mendelson is also set to be recognized. The event will take place in the auditorium at Memphis Bioworks Foundation, 20 South Dudley. To attend, contact Mary Lynes at (901) 271-0660 or mlynes@memphisbar.org or Charlotte Gean (901) 527-3575 or ckgean@memphisbar.org.

Legal opposition to the Tennessee Civil Justice Act of 2011 has been filed in federal court, arguing that Gov. Bill Haslam’s landmark tort law is unconstitutional The Tennessean reports. Nashville lawyer David Randolph Smith, who led the legal fight against the guns-in-bars law and the English-only ballot measure in the state, filed the suit. Federal Judge Kevin H. Sharp could either rule on the issue or send the question to the state Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court today agreed to take up an appeal from Arizona over its requirement that people prove they are American citizens before registering to vote. The justices will review a federal appeals court ruling that blocked the law, arguing that federal law – which allows voters to fill out a mail-in voter registration card and swear they are citizens under penalty of perjury – trumps state law. Tennessee is among four states that have a similar law. Arguments will take place in February, with a decision likely by late June. News Channel 5 has this AP story

Republican Thom Gray, who is seeking to represent the Fourth District House seat in the Tennessee General Assembly, will square off against incumbent Kent Williams of Elizabethton in the Nov. 6 general election. Though Williams claims Republican affiliation, he was barred from officially running as a Republican after joining with Democrats in 2008 to defeat Republican nominee Jason Mumpower as speaker of the House. Gray, a solo practioner in Bristol, is a newcomer to politics. The Elizabethton Star has more about his first bid for public office.

Seven local attorneys met a deadline earlier this month to be considered for a new General Sessions judgeship created by the Washington County Commission. Applicants include Robert D. Arnold, Kenneth C. Baldwin, Douglas J. Carter, Stephen A. Darden, William Carter Donaldson, Michael D. Rasnake and Danny R. Smith. According to the Johnson City Press, interviews will be held Nov. 8, and the county commission will select the new judge on Jan. 3.

Former Hawkins County Judge James F. Taylor pleaded guilty Friday to stealing from private clients and the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), the Rogersville Review reports. Taylor received two three-year sentences, which will run concurrently. However, he only will have to serve one year, with the remaining years to be served on probation. The sentence is in addition to a three-year sentence imposed in Davidson County. Taylor also must pay $71,783 in restitution to former clients and $32,757 to the AOC. Finally, he agreed to not seek reinstatement until his probation ends in 2028.

U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton, working in the Western Division of Tennessee, says his office views prostitution and sex trafficking as “akin to modern-day slavery" and as a priority. As prostitution continues to plague the Lamar Ave. area of Memphis, Stanton says, “We will be very vigilant in prosecuting and bringing to justice those individuals that would seek to sex traffic.” His comments come on the heels of high-profile statements about trafficking from President Barak Obama and ABA President Laurel Bellows. Read more from WMC-TV

Longtime Memphis attorney Mark Saripkin, 60, surrendered his law license following an investigation into allegations that he waived fees for a teenage client in exchange for oral sex, the Commercial Appeal reports. Saripkin, who has not been charged with a crime, allegedly began a relationship with his client when she was 17 and facing charges in Shelby County Juvenile Court. It continued when she was charged with child sex trafficking in federal court last year, the newspaper says.

The Nashville Bar Association (NBA) has released results of a member poll of candidates for the juvenile court judgeship vacated by Judge Betty Adams Green. Lawyers were asked to comment on three candidates: Sheila Calloway, Sophia Crawford and Carlton Lewis. Calloway received the greatest percentage of “highly recommend” votes (32.1 percent), followed by 28.6 for Lewis and 22.3 for Crawford. Download the survey results

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan will judge the final round of the University of Tennessee College of Law’s Advocates’ Prize, the college’s annual intramural appellate advocacy competition, on Oct. 18. Kagan will be the second justice to preside over the competition after Justice Clarence Thomas did the honors in 2010. Five federal appeals court judges also will help judge the competition. They include Judge Rosemary Barkett, Judge Marsha Siegel Berzon, Judge Jerome A. Holmes, Judge Adalberto Josè Jordan and Judge James A. Wynn. The competition takes place Oct. 15-18.

The Sumner County Board of Education and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) will head to mediation to work out a compromise in legal fees after settling a lawsuit over prayer in the county's public schools. In the settlement, the school board admitted no wrongdoing, but agreed that teachers would not be allowed to pray with students or lead Bible study on school grounds, and youth ministers would not be able to visit schools unless they are visiting their own family members. Both parties agreed to mediation to determine attorneys fees. The ACLU is asking for $284,321 to cover fees and litigation expenses. A mediation date has not been set. The Tennessean has the story

Former Germantown deputy court clerk Janet Donnell was placed on diversion after pleading guilty to felony theft for stealing $3,500 from the court, the Commercial Appeal reports. Donnell was facing a two-year prison sentence, but received diversion after numerous sources testified that the theft was out of character. The terms of Donnell’s probation allow her conviction to be erased after 10 years if she makes full restitution and abides by the law.

The East Ridge City Council deadlocked on a vote to change the judge-appointed city court clerk position to an elected, termed position, the Times Free Press reports. The vote now has been rescheduled for Oct. 25. Supporters of the move argue the change is necessary to comply with a 2008 attorney general opinion that cities should have an elected -- not appointed -- court clerk. If the ordinance passes, the city will hold a special election to choose a new court clerk, who will serve until regular elections in August 2013.

The Nashville Bar Association (NBA) was recognized with a Luminary Award from the National Association of Bar Executives Communications Section today during its annual workshop in Denver. The NBA and communications director Nikki Gray were honored for production of its annual membership directory.

Memphis' juvenile jail needs to take both immediate and long-term steps to better prevent detained youths from harming or killing themselves, according to a new national assessment. The report, authored by jail suicide prevention consultant Lindsay Hayes, is part of an ongoing overhaul of the Shelby County Juvenile Court and its detention center following the U.S. Justice Department's finding of due-process and safety violations. The jail has not had a suicide in almost 40 years, but the evaluation states that the court needs to improve suicide prevent training for staff and in-jail school teachers. The Commercial Appeal has more

The ABA Journal reports that more than 1,500 lawyers who took continuing legal education (CLE) courses from Rutgers University's two law schools had their personal information compromised by hackers who accessed names, address, encrypted passwords and other data from about 100 university websites. A group called Team GhostShell claims responsibility, stating they were protesting rising education costs and student loan debt. Personal information that was posted online has been removed, and Rutgers said they have increased website security.

Results from the July Tennessee bar examination were released today with 343 successful applicants now poised to join the practice of law in the state. In a letter to the candidates mailed today, TBA President Jackie Dixon congratuled them on their achievement and urged them to become active in the bar association and its Young Lawyers Division saying, "There is no better way to meet and enjoy the company of other young lawyers across the state and to begin to establish the vital relationships that will be of great benefit throughout your career." View the list of successful candidates

According to most recent reports, 15 new cases of fungal meningitis were announced today, bringing the nationwide total to 184. As that number continues to grow, a group of plaintiffs have filed the first federal class action suit against the Framingham, Mass., pharmaceutical company alleged to be the source of the contaminated spinal steroids. The suit, filed in a U.S. District Court in Minnesota, charges that the company “had a duty to use reasonable care in designing and manufacturing the methylprednisolone acetate steroid doses such that they are not unreasonably dangerous.” The Tennessean has the story